Why I Blog So Much . . .

I have been blogging for almost 7 years!

It is crazy to think that that much time has gone by, especially since I can still remember creating my very first blog: www.mari4u.blogspot.com. 

I have had good blog-writing times, and some not so good. But I have been fairly consistent in keeping it updated on a regular basis. It is my journal, my history, my life. 

A Blog, like a journal, is a way to live forever. I have gone through a bunch of family history stories of those who have gone before me, and because of their record, I feel like they are alive and with me. I have come to really know them, and understand them. They are not dead to me. They live! And when I am dead and gone, perhaps my words might yet remain. My children, and my children's children, will know who I am, what I believe, and that I truly LIVED. 

And sure, maybe the world will end soon, and all books and the internet will be destroyed . . . but maybe there is some time left in the world. Maybe there is history yet to be made. And we are the ones to make it, and record it! If you want to be immortal -- even if only while the world keeps spinning -- write a blog (or journal). 

After reading through the histories of my own kin, I am less afraid to die. I know who is there on the other side, I know my ancestors. I know I will be greeted by my faithful pioneer ancestor, Wee Granny, and my great-grandmother Embell, with out-stretched arms. I have questions I want to ask great-grandpa Duncan Kippen about serving a mission in Samoa in the 1800's. I want to wrap my hands around my Grandpa Lindquist's wrists to see if it really took two watchbands to go around them. I want to ask John Murray Murdoch how he managed to go on -- marching to Zion -- after discovering his young daughter's dead body taken from her casket, and finding her thrown in a vat at a fertilizing plant. And boy, do I have a bunch of questions for Charles' family members who have passed beyond the veil! I'll have to remember to bring a pen and paper with me to Heaven, to take notes. 

John Murray Murdoch 

Charles'  ancestor  Frank T. Hines with Franklin Roosevelt 

Those who write down their histories are remembered . . . never forgotten. And as someone who loves to delve into family history, it sure makes it A LOT easier when there is a history written down! 

This is what the Prophet Spencer W. Kimball said of journal writing: 

No one is commonplace, and I doubt if you can ever read a biography from which you cannot learn something from the difficulties overcome and the struggles made to succeed. These are the measuring rods for the progress of humanity.

Your own journal, like most others, will tell of problems that recur constantly in every generation, that are as old as the world and how you dealt with them.

Your journal should contain an image of your true self rather than a picture of you that applies cosmetics to everything you ever did, making you appear to be flawless. There is a temptation to paint with words one’s virtues in rich color and whitewash the vices, but there is also the opposite pitfall of accentuating the negative. Personally, I have little respect for anyone who delves into the ugly phases of the life he is portraying, whether it be his own or another’s. The truth should be told, but we should not emphasize the negative. Even a long life full of inspiring experiences can be brought to the dust by one ugly story. Why dwell on that one ugly truth about someone whose life has been largely prudent?

Your journal is your autobiography, so it should be kept carefully. You are unique, and there may be incidents in your experience that are more noble and praiseworthy in their way than those recorded in any other life. There may be a flash of illumination here and a story of faithfulness there; you should truthfully record your real self and not what other people may see in you.

Your story should be written now while it is fresh and while the true details are available.

Writing a journal is the literature of superior people. Each individual can become superior in his own humble life.

What could you do better for your children and your children’s children than to record the story of your life, your triumphs over adversity, your recovery after a fall, your progress when all seemed black, your rejoicing when you had finally achieved?

Some of what you write may be ordinary events and places, but there will also be rich passages that will be quoted by your posterity.

Get a notebook, my young folks, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity. Begin today and write in it your goings and comings, your deepest thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies. Remember, the Savior chastised those who failed to record important events.

And now you know . . . THAT is why I blog so much! 

I am not interested in being chastised for not keeping a record of my life! I have too many other weaknesses to add to my list! This is something I can do. Something that can be done.  So record my life, I will. 

I am so grateful for the stories that I have of my ancestors who now dwell in Heaven. I find courage and strength from their lives, and their faith. And when I am gone, I want my kin to know me . . . so that when we meet again, we will meet as old friends, not strangers. 

I am Mari van Ormer . . . immortal.